COP15 UN biodiversity conference has achieved an agreement that we will protect 30% of our planet’s land and water by 2030.
Seas and oceans have become deserted with marine habitats devastated by overfishing on a mass scale. Climate change threatens marine environment with the rise of sea surface temperature leading to irreversible changes of water chemistry and biological life. This year the temperature of the world’s ocean surface has reached the highest ever record since satellite monitoring begun.
The creation of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) is a positive step to ensure “the sustainability of our fishing industries and marine life” (Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands in Geographical Magazine). She continues: “we want a sustainable fishery in 20, 30, 100 years’ time.”
In response to the proposal many islanders called the move “the biggest peacetime risk to our communities since the Highlands Clearances”.
The plan, which was supposed to safeguard 10% of Scottish waters for rewilding with all fishing activity banned, lucked a proper public consultation and understanding that fishing communities in Scotland are on the verge of bankruptcy. Rhona Meek, Tiree crofter says: “You are seeing fury at HPMA proposals not because islanders and fisherfolk hate the environment but because our communities, language and culture are as fragile as our seas”.
Seems the best conservation lesson of working with local communities for mutual benefit of nature and people was forgotten in this important project.
